Midland ISD, Ector County ISD continue programs for superintendents and campus leaders
Campus leaders from Henderson Elementary show school pride at Holdsworth Center in Austin. LEFT TO RIGHT: Karina Camacho, School Counselor; Nicole Trujillo, 5th Grade Math Multi-Classroom Leader; Ana Perez, Literacy Strategist; Maxine Gonzales, Principal.
As students return to classrooms across West Texas, campus leaders from four Midland ISD elementary schools continue in their second year of professional learning through The Holdsworth Center. Launched in 2017 by H-E-B founder Charles E. Butt, The Holdsworth Center partners with Texas public school districts to help educators become better leaders and encourage their staff to grow into leadership roles. The Austin-based nonprofit has worked with more than 1,500 educators in 75 public school districts across the state.
In 2023, with grant funding provided by Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) and Scharbauer Foundation, The Holdsworth Center launched two programs in the Permian Basin. Superintendents and two colleagues from each of four Permian Basin school districts – including Midland ISD and Ector County ISD – are participating in the 18-month Leadership Collaborative. The program assists districts in identifying potential leaders and building a team of aspiring principals ready to fill vacancies when they occur.
The Campus Leadership Program (CLP) is a two-year commitment for principals and campus leaders. Participants attend 15 learning sessions that include speakers from K-12, academia, government, and corporate sectors; peer coaching and team building; and site visits to other campuses and districts.
This fall marks Maxine Gonzales’ third year as principal at MISD’s Henderson Elementary and 20th year as an educator. As one of eight Midland ISD participants in the CLP, Ms. Gonzales said she was excited to have the opportunity to be part of the Holdsworth program.
“I know they partner with Harvard educators and leaders that bring world-class leadership training to districts and really support the work that it takes to advance a campus,” she said. “They look at what your specific campus needs are and what is going to drive the work forward. I saw how refining my skills as a leader would help accelerate instruction and increase student outcomes year over year.”
After completing seven sessions, Ms. Gonzales shared the reasons she’s looking forward to the second year of the program and how her time with Holdsworth will impact her staff and students.
Scharbauer Foundation: How has the first year of the Campus Leadership Program compared to your expectations?
Maxine Gonzales: The program has been beyond expectations. We have red carpet treatment. I imagine it’s what CEOs of large corporations do when they attend these trainings. They think of every detail so that when we plan to go everything is thought through for us. We don’t have to worry about what we are going to eat. We have gyms, we have a lake to relax by. We have full days of training but at the same time in a retreat-like setting that is beyond compare. It is a place to fill your cup and also hone your skills. I’ve never quite experienced anything so unique and so refreshing and empowering.
Scharbauer Foundation: Part of the first-year curriculum of the CLP involves identifying a Problem of Practice for each campus. How do you go about that work?
Maxine Gonzales: We look at our data. We look at surveys and a lot of different information. Then we determine what is our highest area of need. At a school that needs improvement there could be more than one. Sometimes it only takes one spark to get the fire going, so by affecting change in one grade level, in one content area, others will see the growth and get excited about the work and want to be part of it. It’s really identifying the areas that need improvement and determining what is our next best step to solve this problem to ensure students are receiving the best possible experience and education.
They (students) only have one year to learn what they are supposed to learn in whatever grade they are in, so we have to be very focused and intentional to ensure that if they’re behind that we catch them up and also with filling the gaps. It’s identifying those gaps, so we don’t just put a band-aid on it. We’re really determining the root cause so that we don’t continue to create similar issues.
Scharbauer Foundation: What session has been your favorite so far?
Maxine Gonzales: For me, it was conducting empathy interviews to help determine the root cause of our problem of practice. I’m all about data, quantitative work; however, bringing in the empathy interviews and interviewing teachers and students - even though we’re an elementary campus - interviewing our students for the qualitative data was really eye-opening. Obviously, kids are very honest and they’re also willing to tell you what they need and what they’re missing in their instruction. That really helps me to see through the lens of a student as well as take in the teacher perspective to start to bring all the information alongside our observations to determine why this a problem for Henderson.
Scharbauer Foundation: Has that changed how you go about your work?
Maxine Gonzales: Sometimes it’s difficult to survey our stakeholders. Hearing feedback for leaders and teachers can be tough at times and opening yourself to be vulnerable like that and hear what we can do better really changed my mind about asking more people more questions to get a boots-on-the-ground perspective. I’m very much open to asking a lot of people a lot of questions so I can take all the perspectives into consideration when making decisions for the best interests of our school.
Scharbauer Foundation: In May, the CLP cohort had the opportunity to travel to Southern California for nine site visits to schools and student enrichment organizations. What did you take away from that experience?
Maxine Gonzales: The students in the places we visited have similar stories to my students here in Midland, and the way that they bring families into the fold and really get families involved is a component that we’re missing at Henderson specifically. With parents working so much and having so many responsibilities it becomes a struggle. Seeing the different ways you can engage families, not just always in person but virtually as well, to feel part of the school community and feel welcome, I think it’s going to make a huge impact in the year to come.
Scharbauer Foundation: What other changes do you see in the future for Henderson and for your leadership?
Maxine Gonzales: Moving forward I think it’s going to help me raise leaders for our district with the skills needed to go out and lead other schools and impact other schools by being intentional with small change ideas that make a big impact. We like to think big and act small - small incremental changes that are going to make a big impact. It’s training not only our teachers and teacher leaders how to solve problems that impact students, it’s also going to spread into our school community and start to really impact things across our district for higher achievement.
Scharbauer Foundation: What are you most looking forward to as you begin the second year of work with Holdsworth?
Maxine Gonzales: In year two we will start to truly incorporate the small change ideas and see what’s working and what doesn’t work for our specific campus. I think in the coming year what’s most exciting is tracking the growth and celebrating the wins of my staff. They work really hard every day. I’ve never seen a more committed team of teachers. People who just love what they do and love the students and so I’m looking forward to celebrating the small and big wins for them because they absolutely deserve the very best.